An Odor Of Sanctimony . . .

November 25, 1990|By White

Nothing like a whiff of prosecution to send legislators scurrying for ethics. State Attorney Willie Meggs has commanded their attention all right, after he began investigating free trips some of them failed to report.

But the Legislature's efforts last Tuesday during its organizational session had an odor of sanctimony. Leaders produced a loophole-ridden gesture instead of strong new laws to clean up the mess.

Clearly, they couldn't keep deep-sixing the issue. Not after Lawton Chiles won the governorship by crusading against the influence of special interests. So the order came down from the House speaker and Senate president: ''We will have ethics.''

Well, some ethics.

The new rules will prevent legislators and other state and local officials from accepting gifts worth more than $100 from lobbyists and their employers, political action committees and several other groups.

And yes, this change is preferable to the old rules, whose lax interpretation encouraged the excesses that alerted prosecutors. But public servants still will be free to fudge, as long as they are careful.

A lobbyist might divide his generosity into separate gifts, each worth just under $100. That way, as Sen. Richard Langley quipped, a legislator could accept a set of golf clubs, one club at a time. Also, donors outside the restricted group - for example, developers representing themselves - could continue to shower officials with expensive freebies.

A task force appointed by Gov. Bob Martinez champions a better solution - namely, to prohibit the soliciting or taking of virtually all gifts, with a few exceptions. Legislators still could accept, say, invitations to dinner, as long as both they and the donors reported anything worth more than $25.

Legislators still haven't touched runaway campaign spending. Allowing someone to stuff as much as $9,000 into a candidate's kitty invites corruption - even more than plying officials with gifts.

So expect hard slugging. But if Mr. Chiles will fight for reforms, as he has promised, and the public's anger remains white hot, next year could produce something more than lip service and partial golf sets.